Win 8, Two Monitors
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Still waiting for my box, but this may help http://www.classicshell.net/[^]
Toto1107
I am highly suspicious that Classic Shell is the reason that I cannot use two monitors now. That was one of the few pieces of software that I put on this machine after installing Windows 8. When Win'8 was first installed here, both monitors produced the exact same image. Now, only one monitor works. This PC does not know that the other monitor exists
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Brisingr Aerowing wrote:
Did you select 'Extend this display' on your main display?
I do not see that option on my screen. The main display is the only display I see. When win'8 was first placed on this machine, I saw two identical screens. Something changed. This machine, with windows 8, is physically and logistically capable of placing images on both screens. One is VGA and the other is DVI-D. Can you tell me what to click, where, to make the option "Extend this display" appear ? This is my 2nd day with Windows'8 and I'm supposed to get my regular work done as well (hence, I'm on one screen flipping around a lot). Can you tell me what option was clicked to change the physical and logistical arrangement of the two screens from a dual (mirrored) arrangement to a single screen in which the other screen is non-existent ? Can you tell me how to undo whatever it was that I did to make that happen ? Perhaps the questions could be.... -- How do you turn off the second monitor in Win'8 ? -- How do you turn it back on ? So far, I have not found one person who knows the answer to both (in fact, either) of those questions. This includes every page on the microsoft website as well and here, stack exchange, and searches with Google, Yahoo, Bing, and I forget where else. What do you click, where, when, how, to re-enable dual monitors on windows'8 ?
Are you using DVI or HDMI to connect? I cannot think of any reasons that this would happen, other than either a bad graphics driver, or a BIOS that needs an update (like I had to do to mine). What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop? I can only really suggest checking the manufacturer's website for newer drivers.
Gryphons Are Awesome! Gryphons Are Awesome!
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Are you using DVI or HDMI to connect? I cannot think of any reasons that this would happen, other than either a bad graphics driver, or a BIOS that needs an update (like I had to do to mine). What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop? I can only really suggest checking the manufacturer's website for newer drivers.
Gryphons Are Awesome! Gryphons Are Awesome!
Brisingr Aerowing wrote:
Are you using DVI or HDMI to connect?
VGA--> Working monitor DVI--> The one that stopped working
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How do I tell what my monitor card is ? Control Panel has been so altered that the poor victim^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user has no clue as to what the video card installed is. I am confident that this machine can do two monitors. This confidence comes from the fact that when Win'8 was first installed here, both monitors produced the exact same image, but now, only one monitor works. This PC does not know that the other monitor exists
That's a difficult question, you should know what hardware you buy my friend :) EDIT: I now realise this computer may be somebody else's, so scratch out the statement above Anyhow, is this a laptop or a desktop computer? If it's a laptop you can google the the make and model for it, otherwise I suggest you open the computer case and look at the video card for the make and model - that info is usually silked into the circuit board.
--------- Andre Sanches "UNIX is friendly, it's just picky about its friends"
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Are you using DVI or HDMI to connect? I cannot think of any reasons that this would happen, other than either a bad graphics driver, or a BIOS that needs an update (like I had to do to mine). What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop? I can only really suggest checking the manufacturer's website for newer drivers.
Gryphons Are Awesome! Gryphons Are Awesome!
Brisingr Aerowing wrote:
a BIOS that needs an update
I would be quite happy to take a look in the BIOS. That has been a suspicion of mine for two days now. My new windows'8 question: How do you turn it off ??? Do I go straight to the physical power switch now ? Just cut the electricityb ? Is that the way to power down a PC under Windows'8 ???
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Are you using DVI or HDMI to connect? I cannot think of any reasons that this would happen, other than either a bad graphics driver, or a BIOS that needs an update (like I had to do to mine). What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop? I can only really suggest checking the manufacturer's website for newer drivers.
Gryphons Are Awesome! Gryphons Are Awesome!
Brisingr Aerowing wrote:
What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop?
This is a Dell Precision 670. It's a desktop. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of video card I have. Dell has a page on their website about how to set up multiple screens on Windows'8 It is based on the same faulty assumptions that have been leading all my previous advisors to offer advice that doesn't work. i.e., they say...
1.Invoke Windows Charms by swiping in from the right or moving the mouse cursor to one of the right-hand side corners, 2.Choose Devices, 3.Select Second Screen.That 3rd thing, "Select Second Screen" does not exist when I follow instructions 1 and 2. Instead, this is what I see...
Devices Desktop Nothing can be sent from the desktopI can't seem to get that through anyone's head. When I follow the instructions for setting up two screens on windows 8, I don't get an option for a second screen. Where do I turn on what item or click what, in order to let Windows 8 see that I have two screens again ?
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No, I have not. I thought that that was all hardware. I am willing to try any solution that only involves typing the magic words at the keyboard.
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How do I tell what my monitor card is ? Control Panel has been so altered that the poor victim^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user has no clue as to what the video card installed is. I am confident that this machine can do two monitors. This confidence comes from the fact that when Win'8 was first installed here, both monitors produced the exact same image, but now, only one monitor works. This PC does not know that the other monitor exists
C-P-User-3 wrote:
Control Panel has been so altered that the poor victim^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user has no clue as to what the video card installed is
Most of the familiar windows 7 stuff, like control panel, is all still there, its just well hidden. There's a secret handshake to get to the control panel from the desktop view, I think it's Win-X. From there, you can get to device manager and figure out what video card you have, if the OS is even seeing the second monitor at a low level, etc. If you know how to resolve this with Win 7, I suggest you give up on the Windows 8 charms and secret handshake crap, and get one of the start button replacements. Then you'll have a familiar place to start from to resolve issues like this.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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C-P-User-3 wrote:
Control Panel has been so altered that the poor victim^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user has no clue as to what the video card installed is
Most of the familiar windows 7 stuff, like control panel, is all still there, its just well hidden. There's a secret handshake to get to the control panel from the desktop view, I think it's Win-X. From there, you can get to device manager and figure out what video card you have, if the OS is even seeing the second monitor at a low level, etc. If you know how to resolve this with Win 7, I suggest you give up on the Windows 8 charms and secret handshake crap, and get one of the start button replacements. Then you'll have a familiar place to start from to resolve issues like this.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
*THANK YOU* for an explanation of what to click and what to type. I found the old-fashioned worn-out low-tech Device manager. I clicked on display adapter. This is all that was there...
Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
I see nothing about Radion, Dell, or any graphics adapter company listed. I welcome more ideas.
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ahmed zahmed wrote:
Again, please tell me how both your monitors are attached.
They are attached to the same video card which is made for two monitors. This worked fine in win'7 This also worked when Win'8 was first installed on this machine. Something somewhere has to be different. I am not aware of any setting that I have changed. Should I try unplugging the monitor and reconnecting it ?
Yes, try unplugging it and reconnecting it. Alos, have you tried connecting both monitors using VGA? It sounds like a driver issue of some sort. Maybe you changed the resolution and it can't drive both monitors that way. You really need to fire up the video card-specific control panel and see what it can tell you. Also, when you say "worked when Win8 was first installed", do you mean during the installation process, or after everything was installed and you were finally booting and running Win8?
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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That's a difficult question, you should know what hardware you buy my friend :) EDIT: I now realise this computer may be somebody else's, so scratch out the statement above Anyhow, is this a laptop or a desktop computer? If it's a laptop you can google the the make and model for it, otherwise I suggest you open the computer case and look at the video card for the make and model - that info is usually silked into the circuit board.
--------- Andre Sanches "UNIX is friendly, it's just picky about its friends"
Oh, I didn't buy this computer (Nor did I change it from Win'7 to Win'8, but that's a different matter).
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Yes, try unplugging it and reconnecting it. Alos, have you tried connecting both monitors using VGA? It sounds like a driver issue of some sort. Maybe you changed the resolution and it can't drive both monitors that way. You really need to fire up the video card-specific control panel and see what it can tell you. Also, when you say "worked when Win8 was first installed", do you mean during the installation process, or after everything was installed and you were finally booting and running Win8?
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
patbob wrote:
have you tried connecting both monitors using VGA?
No. I find only two jacks on the back of the video card; one for VGA (works) and one for DVI (does not work)
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I am highly suspicious that Classic Shell is the reason that I cannot use two monitors now. That was one of the few pieces of software that I put on this machine after installing Windows 8. When Win'8 was first installed here, both monitors produced the exact same image. Now, only one monitor works. This PC does not know that the other monitor exists
C-P-User-3 wrote:
I am highly suspicious that Classic Shell is the reason that I cannot use two monitors now.
it is always good to suspect that changes to software are possible causes. you should have stated that up front. i am not familiar with that software, so i won't comment on it, other than to say that you may want to try uninstalling it... that being said, i have an Acer laptop with its screen and two other monitors attached (for a total of three). the third is connected using a Toshiba USB universal docking station. occasionally i have to cycle power on the dock or cycle the plug before Win 8 sees it, especially re-awakening from sleep when the dock was not connected. when i originally installed the dock, i had to click detect before it showed up at all.
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Yes, try unplugging it and reconnecting it. Alos, have you tried connecting both monitors using VGA? It sounds like a driver issue of some sort. Maybe you changed the resolution and it can't drive both monitors that way. You really need to fire up the video card-specific control panel and see what it can tell you. Also, when you say "worked when Win8 was first installed", do you mean during the installation process, or after everything was installed and you were finally booting and running Win8?
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
patbob wrote:
...fire up the video card-specific control panel and see what it can tell you.
Missed that one. Where is it ? Can I get there via control panel ?
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*THANK YOU* for an explanation of what to click and what to type. I found the old-fashioned worn-out low-tech Device manager. I clicked on display adapter. This is all that was there...
Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
I see nothing about Radion, Dell, or any graphics adapter company listed. I welcome more ideas.
Aha! MS basic display adapater is the generic one that MS provides. It likely can't do multiple monitors and all the other fancy stuff. So, it sounds like the video-card specific driver didn't get installed. Try upgrading the driver and seeing if MS has one for it. If they do, that'll probaby get you going.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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Yes, try unplugging it and reconnecting it. Alos, have you tried connecting both monitors using VGA? It sounds like a driver issue of some sort. Maybe you changed the resolution and it can't drive both monitors that way. You really need to fire up the video card-specific control panel and see what it can tell you. Also, when you say "worked when Win8 was first installed", do you mean during the installation process, or after everything was installed and you were finally booting and running Win8?
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
patbob wrote:
Also, when you say "worked when Win8 was first installed", do you mean during the installation process, or after everything was installed and you were finally booting and running Win8?
I was away from the shop for 3 days. I came back, and I saw two big blue screens with the windows logo on them both. A friend has suggested system restore and working backwards from that point. That was the same friend who suggested classic shell. I am still exteremely suspicious of classic shell because that's the only difference that I could guess is causing me all these problems.
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Aha! MS basic display adapater is the generic one that MS provides. It likely can't do multiple monitors and all the other fancy stuff. So, it sounds like the video-card specific driver didn't get installed. Try upgrading the driver and seeing if MS has one for it. If they do, that'll probaby get you going.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
patbob wrote:
Try upgrading the driver and seeing if MS has one for it.
This sounds sensible. Now, how do I find out the name for it ? Dell placed me and one of their tech support folks together. I suppose he can give me the name of the card. I'm looking on their website and still can't decipher their secret codes, but I'll keep trying
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patbob wrote:
Try upgrading the driver and seeing if MS has one for it.
This sounds sensible. Now, how do I find out the name for it ? Dell placed me and one of their tech support folks together. I suppose he can give me the name of the card. I'm looking on their website and still can't decipher their secret codes, but I'll keep trying
p.s., should I try to find that driver on Microsoft's website ? Or Dell's ? Or on the maker of the card ? Or from some other planet ?
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patbob wrote:
Try upgrading the driver and seeing if MS has one for it.
This sounds sensible. Now, how do I find out the name for it ? Dell placed me and one of their tech support folks together. I suppose he can give me the name of the card. I'm looking on their website and still can't decipher their secret codes, but I'll keep trying
Shouldn't need to. Use device manager and pull up the display adapter, then do the Update Driver thing through it. It should detect the video card and obtain the appropriate driver for it. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to check on the Dell support site for your computer and see if they ahve a Win8 video driver for it. However, since it was working post-install, then the video card driver probably just got reset to the generic one, which suggests that MS will have at least some driver that will do multiple monitors for it.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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Brisingr Aerowing wrote:
What model of computer do you have? Desktop or laptop?
This is a Dell Precision 670. It's a desktop. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of video card I have. Dell has a page on their website about how to set up multiple screens on Windows'8 It is based on the same faulty assumptions that have been leading all my previous advisors to offer advice that doesn't work. i.e., they say...
1.Invoke Windows Charms by swiping in from the right or moving the mouse cursor to one of the right-hand side corners, 2.Choose Devices, 3.Select Second Screen.That 3rd thing, "Select Second Screen" does not exist when I follow instructions 1 and 2. Instead, this is what I see...
Devices Desktop Nothing can be sent from the desktopI can't seem to get that through anyone's head. When I follow the instructions for setting up two screens on windows 8, I don't get an option for a second screen. Where do I turn on what item or click what, in order to let Windows 8 see that I have two screens again ?
I don't think you can tell windows to turn off or on a display; I think if it sees it, it displays it. So the real question is, why isn't it seeing your second monitor? A few posts back you were going to try swapping monitors, cables, etc. Did any of that work? You said the Sony displayed "No Input Signal" and "Input 3-DVI-D"; try different input options? I'd try different combinations. Try Sony as the sole monitor. If you get nothing you know something's gone wrong with Sony (or settings/cable thereof; you may get different results with Sony in vga mode, sony in dvi, sony in hdmi if available). Also, maybe you have a small hi-def tv you could try as 2nd monitor? I know this stuff's a pita; good luck with it. Oh, btw, of the 50000 keystroke variations, the main one is windows key -x which brings up menu to most of the stuff we know and love; ctl panel, device manager, command prompt, etc. But not shutdown; good ol' ctl-alt-del can get you there; there's a power icon in lower right corner after you hit ctl-alt-del; shutdown is one of the options.